JERRY ORBACH'S LAST DAY ON THE LAW & ORDER SET - Photo: 2004_04_lojerrycheese
JERRY (Jerome Bernard) ORBACH - died of prostate cancer 12-28-2004.
I became a big fan of the 6'2" character actor, singer, hoofer in 1958. He was part of a repertory company staging summer stock productions in Dayton. The regulars appeared every morning on local TV along with the stars for the week. It was hosted by Director Doug Crawford and a brilliant, zany announcer who DJ's locally, Jim Runyon. His wife Marta was a regular, too.
Jerry had an infectious personality, an easy laugh and told great stories. He could belt a broadway tune into the cheap seats or he could croon a boozey torch number a la Frank or Dino.
I'll try to confirm this - I think Jerry was of mixed Jewish-Italian heritage (on Law & Order, Lenny Briscoe was Jewish-Irish).
Bio: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001583/bio
Spouses:
Elaine Cancilla (7 October 1979 - present)
Marta Curro (21 June 1958 - 1975) 2 children
He created the roles of El Gallo in "The Fantasticks", Billy Flynn in "Chicago" and Julian Marsh in "42nd Street" on the New York stage. In 1965, he was nominated for the Tony Award® for "Best Featured Actor in a Musical" for his performance in "Guys and Dolls." In 1976, he was nominated for the Tony Award® for "Best Actor in a Musical" for his performance in "Chicago."
In 1969, he won the Tony Award for lead male in a musical for his 1968 role of Chuck Baxter in the Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical "Promises, Promises", a stage adaptation of Billy Wilder's "The Apartment".
Was partying at the Copacabana with famed New York mobster Joey Gallo hours before he was shot dead at Umberto's Clam House in New York City. Worked as a chauffeur for Mae West.
He played the grizzled recovering drunk detective, Lenny Briscoe for 12 seasons on the consistently excellent TV series Law & Order. Jerry announced on March 26th, 2004, that he would be leaving the series "Law And Order" after 12 years on the series.
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Dana Stevens (aka Liz Penn) writes on television for Slate:
"During his 12 seasons of on-location shooting in New York, the Bronx-born Orbach became a local favorite, especially with the cops. In an interview last year, he described his relationship with the real NYPD: "If it's raining and I can't get a cab, sometimes a squad car will come by and they'll say 'Where you going?' I say, 'I don't want to get you guys in trouble.' They say, 'Get in the back. We'll pretend you're under arrest.' "
Along with fellow cast member Sam Waterston, he was declared a "Living Landmark" by the New York Landmark Conservancy last year. Asked what his new status meant, Orbach answered with a line wry enough to serve as Lennie Briscoe's epitaph: "It means they can't tear me down."